Writer: Jeremy Adams
Pencils: Fernando Pasarin
Inks: Oclair Albert
Colors: Romulo Fajardo Jr.
Letters: Dave Sharpe
Cover: Ariel Colón
Variant Covers: Gleb Melnikov; Chuma Hill; Salvador Larroca & Laura Martin
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: 4.99
Release Date: July 10, 2024
Jumping Around The Universe
Amanda Waller has Hal Jordan at her mercy as Absolute Power spills into Green Lantern. But the latest DC event isn’t the only story thread running through Green Lantern #13. Rather than be dominated by it, the issue seeks to balance the series’ ongoing storylines with the demands of the larger event.
Hal Jordan is Amanda Waller’s prisoner. Despite what Waller told Thaaros, the head of the United Planets, she has no intention of turning Hal over. Instead, she wants to know what’s powering Hal’s ring. Following this opening, Green Lantern #13 jumps around and touches on various characters and story threads running through the series right now. Jessica Cruz meets with the rest of the resistance. Sinestro, still powered by rage, overlooks New Korugar. Nathan Broome, recently jilted by Carol Ferris, sits alone with his thoughts. And there is more still.
Green Lantern #13 is less a story and more a series of quick hits that may or may not be connected to Absolute Power. The issue is structured to take advantage of the potential for Absolute Power to bring in new readers by touching on the various story threads currently running through the Green Lantern series. It’s ideal for new readers.
The Absolute Power story thread in Green Lantern #13 is similar to the Absolute Power backup story in the previous week’s Batman #150 in that it ultimately leads to a big revelation connected to Waller’s activities. In this case, though, Adams ties the action Hal takes to get him to that revelation into the issue’s main story. In this way the Absolute Power component feels more organic within the current events in Green Lantern.
Despite the compacted nature of many of the scenes in Green Lantern #13, Adams is still able to find moments for character introspection. Each sequence is narrated in first person by a pivotal character. Hal, Sinestro, Jessica Cruz, etc. Particularly good is Nathan’s sequence as he deals with being stood up at the altar by Carol.
Color Color Color
Coloring steals the show visually in Green Lantern #13. Changes to the emotional spectrum is currently a key story thread in the series, and of course that is represented by a color spectrum. When the emotional spectrum’s colors factor into the action, Fajardo Jr. makes them stand out above everything else. Sinestro’s red rage energy is brighter than everything else on the page including Sinestro himself. The green from Alan Scott’s ring throws a bright glare on Alan’s face. Fajardo Jr. makes even a darker lantern color stand out by putting it against a range of browns and dark beiges and creating a sharp contrast.
Fajardo Jr.’s best work comes on a splash page featuring Kyle Rayner who connects to the full spectrum. His entire body is awash in the different colors of the emotional spectrum. Fajardo Jr. blends the colors together across his body in smooth transitions rather than a disordered tie-dye approach. Red flows into pink and then orange across one of Kyle’s legs. On Kyle’s other leg, green moves upward into aquamarine and then blue. Kyle is an outstanding visual representation of the emotional chaos that is a centerpiece of Green Lantern’s current storylines.
Pasarin and Albert’s art is very detailed but not distractingly so. Heavy shading adds contour to characters and thick inks make them pop off the page. The linework on the characters is much thicker and darker than any of the backgrounds they’re set against which always keeps them front and center even when not in the foreground.
The vast majority of Green Lantern #13 is told via internal monologues in caption boxes. Unsurprisingly, Sharpe color codes the captions to the characters involved. In the case of the multiple Green Lanterns, he distinguishes them further by matching the captions to the characters’ costumes. And in the case of one character who becomes a new lantern, Sharpe begins with plain white boxes and black text, switching to a different color scheme and font when the change happens.
Final Thoughts
Green Lantern #13 strikes a good balance between advancing the series’ ongoing storylines, servicing the needs of Absolute Power, and providing an accessible issue for potential new readers. It’s an ideal tie-in issue in this regard. The result may not be the most gripping issue, but it is successful.
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